How I Got The Shot #36 - Large Group Family Portraits

Individual portraits and couples portraits are one thing, but what do you do when you run into a large group?  When I was originally called to do this photo shoot, I was told 15 people, and I planned accordingly.  What I should have done was planned accordingly and then some!!  What I thought was 15, really ended up being close to 30!    The only thing that I had to get creative one was the background.  The 10x20 black backdrop was just not enough to encompass the entire group.   Keep reading to see how we handled this shoot and covered the background issues.

Creative Process:

The client had a once in a lifetime chance - three full generations of family from all over the United States would be in town for one weekend only.  It may not happen again, we needed to make this happen.
She wanted the whole group as well as individual shots of each of the families.

One helpful reminder - have an assistant or two to help with setup, tear down and "client control".  During the shoot, you need to be engaging the client, but there are times you'll be making gear tweaks or solving technical issues.  The assistant can be organizing the group to be photographed and staging the ones after that.  Invaluable, even if you have to pay for an assistant - I highly recommend it.

Location:

The original shoot location was supposed to be an outdoor park.  However, the Ohio weather can be unpredictable, and a a nice cool, spring day we did not get.   It was cooler than it should be this time of the spring.   The client had an alternative - a gymnasium.
This presents its own obstacles as you don't have a ceiling to bounce off, and generally the color of the ambient lights can be less than desirable.

Obstacle 1 - high ceiling.
We handled this by using umbrella boxes, 2 to be precise.  We angled one from each side to do our best  to get a good coverage of all the large groups.

Obstacle 2 - color casts of the ambient lights.
3 words for you - kill the ambient.   We made our shutter speed 1/250th and that was enough to kill the ambient light of the gym.  This way, we only have the color of the strobes we were using to contend with.

Obstacle 3 - power.
I mean power to our studio lights.  There were outlets and we brought plenty of extension cords.  However, if there is no power to the outlets - no beautiful pops from the Alien Bees!  Alway be prepared.  We brought our Vagabond Mini Lithium power supply with us.

Obstacle 4 - too small a backdrop.
We will cover this more in detail in the post processing section, but a little hint for you - Photoshop CS6 and a little third party plugin power!  :)

Gear:

Nikon D700

Nikon 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5

Alien Bee B400 x 2
Umbrella Box x 2
Radio Popper JrX Studio transmitter/receiver
Background stand
Light stand x 2
10 x 20 black backdrop

EXIF Info:

Shot in manual mode

Camera quality setting - JPG fine
exposure: 1/250, f/8, ISO 200
Strobe power between 1/4 and 1/2 power

Lighting Setup:

As stated earlier, we used the umbrella boxes and used this basic setup seen below.  Time was a factor so we needed something versatile for both the large and small groups we would be working with.

I skimmed the back edges of the umbrellas across the back of the groups and let the rest of the light overlap through the middle of the group.

Post Processing:
We strive to get the best possible image in the camera at the time of the shoot.  This keeps out need for post processing down.

We used onOne Software Portrait 2.0 software to get rid of the fly away hairs, sharpen the eyes and do some basic touch ups.

We handled the backdrop shortcoming by using another plugin from Topaz Labs called Remask 3.  This tool makes doing cut outs a relatively simple task, even for the hardest of subjects.   Basically, you make in red what you don't want, green what you do, and blue marks what you want the program to determine.  You do a little cleanup and you go from an image like this:

To this:

After the parts of the image you do not want are removed, you placed a black color layer behind the portrait image.  We then used the burn tool set to shadows at 65% to blend in the backdrop to the other portions of the black layer.  Some cloning was also needed for the green flooring to extend it out.

Gear Organization Series #2 - Modifying an EDC Bag For Camera Use

We are all looking for that "perfect" camera bag.  Problem is, perfect is a relative term.  Perfect for me is something that I can have my "take everywhere" camera or a "light" DSLR kit.

I did a lot of looking and I just didn't see any camera bags that fit the bill for me.  So I started looking at other bags.  That is when I stumbled across the Maxpedition line of bags.  Maxpedition builds their bags for outdoor enthusiasts.  They do have some unique options like the  Jumbo Versipak.  This is a sling/cross body style of bag that has a low foot print, but can hold quite a bit of gear.
The bags are also built to rugged military standard of durability.  So believe me when I say that this thing will last you for quite some time.  It is also coated in a Teflon water resistance, so handling the wet elements is also a bonus feature!

As you can see there is a padded shoulder strap, and a waist strap to add more security and to keep the bag from sliding about.  There are also quite a few molle straps and velcro sections for adding on expansion pouches if you need the extra room.

While this is a nice bag, it definitely was not made with camera gear in mind.  What does that mean?  Well, it is not padded on the sides or the bottom of the main pouch.  Easy solution - I have quite a few pieces of padded dividers from my Tamrac and Lowepro bags, so I re-purposed them!!

I lined the inside of the main compartment(bottom and sides) with the padded dividers.

The main compartment can hold my Fuji X-E1 with 18mm lens attached, the Fuji 35mm lens and still have room for many kinds of extra stuff - like more lenses, wallet, etc.

The main compartment also has a built in rain fly, so if the weather gets extra dicey, you know your gear has added protection from the elements!!

It also has many zippered pockets.

In front of the main compartment you'll find a medium size pocket.  Currently, I have 2 filters, cables, extra batteries and memory cards.  When I had my Fuji X10, it was small enough to inside this pouch.  You could fit a similar sized small compact camera in there, leaving the main compartment wide open.  Great for a day hike where you might want to bring some food, water, first aid kit or similar items along with a compact camera system.

To the righ of the main compartment is a smaller zippered side pouch.  I keep my pens, sharpie, pocket knife, leatherman and flashlight here.

To the left of the main compartment is a pocket originally designed for holding a Nalgene water bottle.    I find this useful for carrying extra lenses or additional cables that you might need.  A flash unit also fits in here nicely.

On top of the bag is another zippered pouch.  I keep first aid stuff and smaller electronics in here - radio triggers(Radio Popper or RF-602 type one should fit fine), BlueTooth headset.

Finally, just behind the main compartment is a zippered pocket that can fit a 7" tablet or similar size device.  I keep my Google Nexus 7 in there.  It would also be a good spot for camera manuals, model released, business cards.

Fuji X-E1 and Discovering Dinosaurs!!

As you know, I have recently purchased a new "take anywhere" camera.  Wanting more than the Fuji X10 could provide me(the X10 is a GREAT camera - but X-E1 ticks all the marks on the checklist) I picked up the Fuji X-E1 with the 35mm f/1.4 and the 18mm f/2 lenses.  This package is only slightly larger than my X10 was and I can still fit everything into my Maxpedition EDC Versipack.  Stay tuned for a future post on what I did to convert my Versipack into a camera bag and the reasons I chose this bag in the first place.

I've been using the X-E1 more frequently, in hopes of being able to get it to the proficient levels I am with my DSLR gear.  I'm close, but not there yet - however, I am already seeing the great results from this camera that I was hoping for.

First off - there have been 2 firmware updates since I first picked up the X-E1.  Auto focus performance has gotten better, especially in lower light situations.  Secondly - for the price, the Fujinon XF lenses are absolutely wonderful!  Great sharpness, light, and very capable of doing what I want them to do.

I decided to put the X-E1 and the 18mm to the test.  My daughter and nephew were interested in an exhibit that was coming to town called Discover The Dinosaurs.  It was being held inside the Columbus Convention Center.  Not sure what to expect, I decided to bring only the X-E1 and see how it fared.  At best, they would have all the lights in the hall on and it would be decent to shoot in - OR - it would be dark with dramatic lighting.  As you can see from the images, the exhibitors went for the dark, theatrical lighting look.

A tough shooting situation to be sure, but the X-E1 and the 18mm were up to the task!

Check out some of my favorite images below:

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